Reader's view: Yockey could keep board in check

Midland Daily News

Published
7:10 am EDT, Friday, November 2, 2018

To the editor:

I have had two sons graduate from Midland Public schools and my third son will within the next few years. I believe that Midland is one of the best places in this state to raise children and we have outstanding schools with dedicated teachers. However, lately I’ve been a little surprised and dismayed by the behavior that I have seen by some members of our school board. Never have I seen such a stream of vitriol against someone running for school board.

There has been intense opposition to one individual running for school board, namely, Kurt Yockey. This is a man who has volunteered his time for over 40 years in our Midland Public schools. He obviously cares about the students, so what then could be the issue? My guess is that it has something to do with the fact that time and again we see him standing up, pointing out the fact that we taxpayers were promised that our millage would go to pay for a number of improvements to our schools, yet many of the things that were promised have since been deleted. When Kurt Yockey has addressed these issues with the board, a list of all the accomplishments from the millage is quickly highlighted — as if to dodge the issue. I wonder how many of us would have voted yes to the millage if we had known that those particular items were going to be deleted. I also wonder if we would have voted yes if we had known that some of our tax dollars were going to be put into a savings account.

Unfortunately, many on the school board seem more preoccupied with stopping the election of Kurt Yockey than being transparent and honest. I feel we need more people like Kurt Yockey as a type of “checks and balances” to what’s really going on behind the scenes.